The second annual Healthy High Desert Summit will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sept. 18 at Courtyard by Marriott, 9619 Mariposa Road in Hesperia. The emphasis will be on nutriti...

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Healthy High Desert

The second annual Healthy High Desert Summit will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sept. 18 at Courtyard by Marriott, 9619 Mariposa Road in Hesperia. The emphasis will be on nutrition and healthy foods. Register online at www.academygo.com.

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DENVER — In a study of how street network design affects public health, researchers at the University of Colorado Denver and the University of Connecticut discovered that older, more compact cities promote more walking and biking and are generally healthier than many newer cities.

The study’s authors found that more intersections, shorter blocks and narrower streets with fewer lanes promote a healthier environment.

“Previously we had found that people drive less and walk more in more compact cities with more intersections per square mile,” said study co-author professional engineer Wesley Marshall, Ph.D., assistant professor of engineering at CU Denver. “Now we’ve been able to link these city design qualities to better health.”

The study, co-authored by Norman Garrick, Ph.D., associate professor of engineering at the University of Connecticut, was published recently in the Journal of Transport & Health. It looked at 24 medium-sized California cities with populations between 30,000 and just more than 100,000.

“We built these dense, connected street networks for thousands of years but only over the last century or so did we switch to designing sparse, tree-like networks with cars in mind,” Garrick said.

The researchers examined street network density, connectivity and configuration. Then they asked how those measures of street design impacted rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and asthma. The study used data collected by the California Health Interview Survey for odd-numbered years from 2003 to 2009, sampling between 42,000 and 51,000 adults.

The results showed that increased intersection density was significantly linked to reduction in obesity at the neighborhood level and of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease at the city level. The more intersections, the lower the disease rates.

Cities in the Victor Valley are recognized as not being compact and have devised compensating strategies.

“The town of Apple Valley is part of Healthy High Desert, a coalition of private and public partners including local cities, hospitals and the county,” said Lena Quinonez, Apple Valley’s recreation supervisor and Healthy Apple Valley coordinator. “As a group we realize that we are not a traditional walkable community, and not planned to be one. Instead we work toward centers for health and wellness throughout the community.”

The town focuses on mobile recreation through the VANtastic Mobile Play Van, active-use amenities at parks and bike paths, she said.

“Hesperia encourages healthy lifestyles by providing more than 40 miles of bike lanes,” city spokeswoman Rachel Molina said. “Hesperia offers the most miles of bike lanes compared to other High Desert cities.

“In addition, it is our goal to construct walking paseos in new developments whenever possible.”

Adelanto City Manager Jim Hart said his city has been involved in the Healthy City program for a few years.

“The city was developed during the boom years with a neighborhood concept that allowed for families to flourish in their respective neighborhoods,” Hart said. “With that in mind, the city streets are clustered in neighborhoods with few areas facing the major thoroughfares. This allows for a safer environment for people to walk, ride bicycles and interact with their neighbors.

“Additionally, under the newer development codes, rather than solicit large pieces of land from home developers for parks, the city will be requiring the placement of neighborhood parks in the developments so the residents will have easier access to the amenities that a park offers and is close enough to walk or bike to.”

Victorville supports a variety of wellness policies for employees and the public, safe routes to school and park-oriented fitness activities.

The city also is seeking funds for implementation of its non-motorized transportation plan.

The study’s authors expressed reserved optimism about cities that are not compact.

“While it is possible to lead an active, healthy lifestyle in most any type of neighborhood,” Marshall said, “our findings suggest that people living in more compact cities do tend to have better health outcomes.”

Garrick pointed out that in their earlier study they had found that these more compact cities also had much lower levels of traffic fatalities.

“Taken together these findings suggest a need to radically re-think how we design and build the streets and street networks that form the backbone of our cities, towns and villages,” Garrick said. “This research is one more in a long line that demonstrates the myriad advantages of fostering walkable places.”